This invention relates to a surgical glove package and a simple apparatus designed for use therewith which greatly facilitates the donning of surgical gloves and eliminates the possibility of accidental contamination of the outer glove surfaces during the procedure of donning the gloves.
The technique now used for donning surgical gloves require that the sealed package containing sterile gloves be carefully opened so that the inner surfaces of the package, and more particularly, the outside surfaces of the gloves contained therein, do not come in contact with any surface. Upon being opened, the gloves are positioned next to each other with the large part of the cuff portions of the gloves being turned on themselves or inside out. An assistant grasps one glove by the folded cuff portion so as to touch only that surface when the glove is donned. The touched surface will thus correspond only to the glove's inner surface. After removing the glove from the package, the assistant grasps the cuff portion of the glove with the fingers of both hands and stretches the opening as much as possible in order to enlarge the cuff opening. The glove is then held in a somewhat vertical position in order to present the glove opening to the surgeon's hand. Care must be taken to make sure that the drooping glove fingers do not touch any surface other than the adjacent outer glove surfaces. The surgeon then vigorously thrusts his hand into the enlarged glove opening in an attempt to gain full entry into the fingers of the glove. The assistant must maintain a firm grip on the glove cuff portion in order to provide the resistance to the thrust necessary for the surgeon's hand to gain access to the fingertips of the glove. At the precise moment the surgeon's hand reaches the fingertips, the assistant must release hold of the glove to permit the cuff portion to snap tightly around the surgeon's wrist. The same procedure is followed for donning the second glove.
Obviously this procedure is fraught with accidental contamination possibilities, especially during times of distress and urgency as may exist when torn gloves have to be replaced during an operation. In addition, this technique requires assistance of a second person with the necessary skill. Moreover, because of the difficulty in fully inserting the hand into the glove, the inner surfaces of the glove must be heavily powdered to lubricate the glove surface relative to the surgeon's hand. The powdering operation normally results in powder getting on the external surfaces of the glove. As a result, the surgeon must use sterile wipes to cleanse the glove surfaces of powder because the presence of powder particles in the surgical wound would aggravate internal organs and tissue and would adversely affect healing following surgery.
In the instances where the user of latex gloves does not have any assistance, care must be taken to avoid touching the outer surface to avoid contamination. This is difficult to do since the wearer must also stretch the glove enough to provide access with one hand while inserting the other.